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ARGUS COMMENT: A time to remember, not to glory

THE centenary of Britain’s entry into what is now known as the First World War will be upon us next Monday.

There will be many commemorations across Gwent and the nation as a whole of the beginning of what was, sadly, incorrectly labelled the war to end all wars.

And it is right that the sacrifices of the many hundreds of thousands of British soldiers are remembered.

The Argus has embarked on a four-year project aimed at explaining the First World War, from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand to the Armistice, by re-publishing daily reports from our archives.

These reports show just how the progress of the war was described to our readers at the time.

Next Monday, to mark the centenary of Britain’s declaration of war on Germany, we will be publishing a special commemorative supplement.

This 48-page supplement will include reports from the Argus archive along with your own stories, passed down the generations of your families. We are grateful to everyone who has told us their story.

The Great War changed the face of the world forever. It touched every household in every part of this nation, like no conflict had ever done before.

As a result, those who gave their lives in the service of their country have never been forgotten.

Comments

KarloMarko
12:26pm Tue 29 Jul 14

"As a result, those who gave their lives in the
service of their country have never been
forgotten."...they did not "give their lives", their lives were taken in their millions by states that defecated on them all once it was over and the winners dinned and divided the spoils. Print a supplement on THAT. My grandfather died in a river of Greek mud for THAT?

"As a result, those who gave their lives in the
service of their country have never been
forgotten."...they did not "give their lives", their lives were taken in their millions by states that defecated on them all once it was over and the winners dinned and divided the spoils. Print a supplement on THAT. My grandfather died in a river of Greek mud for THAT?KarloMarko

"As a result, those who gave their lives in the
service of their country have never been
forgotten."...they did not "give their lives", their lives were taken in their millions by states that defecated on them all once it was over and the winners dinned and divided the spoils. Print a supplement on THAT. My grandfather died in a river of Greek mud for THAT?

Score: 1

Katie Re-Registered
1:08pm Tue 29 Jul 14

The fact that the tragedy that's gone down in history as The First World War was christened 'The War to End All Wars' at the time has a particularly bitter irony to it. Instead of ending all wars, its conclusion and subsequent 'peace' treaties planted the seeds for a whole lot more political strife that mostly ended in violence, much bloodshed, sparking a myriad of other wars including a second world war.

At Versaillies, any hope of a functional, reasonable, democratic Germany was already doomed by the ridiculously unrealistic war reparations upon Weimar Germany.

Further east, the impact of the war directly led to the bolshevik revolution and simultaneous break-up of the centuries old Tsarist empire led to yet another massive war between the Reds and the Whites creating a situation which sparked off scores of other 'small' wars across the vast expanse of those former Tsarist controlled territories in northern, central, eastern Europe and Asia - conflicts that were to drag on until at least the mid-1920s and never really went away.

Another consequence of WWI that never went away was the Balfour Declaration. It's long lasting effects are still headline news today.

The fact that the tragedy that's gone down in history as The First World War was christened 'The War to End All Wars' at the time has a particularly bitter irony to it. Instead of ending all wars, its conclusion and subsequent 'peace' treaties planted the seeds for a whole lot more political strife that mostly ended in violence, much bloodshed, sparking a myriad of other wars including a second world war.
At Versaillies, any hope of a functional, reasonable, democratic Germany was already doomed by the ridiculously unrealistic war reparations upon Weimar Germany.
Further east, the impact of the war directly led to the bolshevik revolution and simultaneous break-up of the centuries old Tsarist empire led to yet another massive war between the Reds and the Whites creating a situation which sparked off scores of other 'small' wars across the vast expanse of those former Tsarist controlled territories in northern, central, eastern Europe and Asia - conflicts that were to drag on until at least the mid-1920s and never really went away.
Another consequence of WWI that never went away was the Balfour Declaration. It's long lasting effects are still headline news today.Katie Re-Registered

The fact that the tragedy that's gone down in history as The First World War was christened 'The War to End All Wars' at the time has a particularly bitter irony to it. Instead of ending all wars, its conclusion and subsequent 'peace' treaties planted the seeds for a whole lot more political strife that mostly ended in violence, much bloodshed, sparking a myriad of other wars including a second world war.

At Versaillies, any hope of a functional, reasonable, democratic Germany was already doomed by the ridiculously unrealistic war reparations upon Weimar Germany.

Further east, the impact of the war directly led to the bolshevik revolution and simultaneous break-up of the centuries old Tsarist empire led to yet another massive war between the Reds and the Whites creating a situation which sparked off scores of other 'small' wars across the vast expanse of those former Tsarist controlled territories in northern, central, eastern Europe and Asia - conflicts that were to drag on until at least the mid-1920s and never really went away.

Another consequence of WWI that never went away was the Balfour Declaration. It's long lasting effects are still headline news today.

Score: -1

Limestonecowboy
7:04pm Tue 29 Jul 14

KarloMarko wrote…

"As a result, those who gave their lives in the service of their country have never been forgotten."...they did not "give their lives", their lives were taken in their millions by states that defecated on them all once it was over and the winners dinned and divided the spoils. Print a supplement on THAT. My grandfather died in a river of Greek mud for THAT?

You seem to be very bitter are you saying your grandfather fought if so you should be proud he took up arms or perhaps you're just one of the 'stay at home' ungrateful types.

[quote][p][bold]KarloMarko[/bold] wrote:
"As a result, those who gave their lives in the service of their country have never been forgotten."...they did not "give their lives", their lives were taken in their millions by states that defecated on them all once it was over and the winners dinned and divided the spoils. Print a supplement on THAT. My grandfather died in a river of Greek mud for THAT?[/p][/quote]You seem to be very bitter are you saying your grandfather fought if so you should be proud he took up arms or perhaps you're just one of the 'stay at home' ungrateful types.Limestonecowboy

KarloMarko wrote…

"As a result, those who gave their lives in the service of their country have never been forgotten."...they did not "give their lives", their lives were taken in their millions by states that defecated on them all once it was over and the winners dinned and divided the spoils. Print a supplement on THAT. My grandfather died in a river of Greek mud for THAT?

You seem to be very bitter are you saying your grandfather fought if so you should be proud he took up arms or perhaps you're just one of the 'stay at home' ungrateful types.

Ipsoregulated

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